Eileen Fischer: Our recent foray out for lunch in Bridgeport started off with a bang, or should I say with several loud honks. Don't people understand the meaning of the word "yield"? Now I know why you always make me drive.

Lee Steele: Where we were going couldn't have been more than a mile away, and it was our most white-knuckle trip yet. You must have been hungry.

E.F.: Our destination was the family-owned Thai restaurant called Ruuthai's Kitchen. You've had their food before and really enjoyed it.

L.S.: Our nearest Thai place closed, and we had nowhere to go for drunken noodle, so when our friends at Whisk and Broom put a photo of a very colorful, beautifully composed heap of Pad Thai on Instagram, I got interested. I Googled the name of the restaurant and found it was conveniently located on a street that's nice and quiet unless a certain Shared Dish writer is driving through. They took deliveries through GrubHub, so we typed in our order. In 30 minutes, we had a delicious lunch and our little void was filled.

E.F.: And you've eaten in the dining room before, haven't you?

L.S.: Yes! We loved the little citrus-hued dining room that inhabits an old corner grocery. There are a few tables and a counter with stools. The ladies who run the kitchen are so sweet and friendly, so if you are able to drive to the West Side, it's worth it to visit this very charming little hole in the wall.

E.F.: With Thai cuisine so popular now, this one has the reputation of serving "authentic" Thai food vs. Americanized Thai food.

L.S.: I honestly know nothing about the cuisine, but it always does bother me that I'm getting the dumbed-down version of anything. Not that it stops me from ordering General Tsao's Chicken on occasion.

E.F.: At lunch we could order off the regular menu or have the lunch entrees, which were smaller portions than the dinner choices, but came with an appetizer ($9-$11). I ordered the chicken soup, Pad Thai, spring rolls (there were two) and the yellow chicken curry with potato, pineapple, peppers and onion in coconut milk. I guess I was hungry.

L.S.: I know you have a friend who cooks Thai, so you know a little about the cuisine. What did you think?

E.F.: The curry's sauce was to die for and plenty of it to go over the white rice that came with it. I've had more than my share of spring rolls (my friend's egg rolls are especially awesome and I've lost count of how many of those I've eaten) and curry, but these were absolutely memorable. The heat in the curry was perfect.

L.S.: I warned you that Thai food is often spicy, and when they go for "authentic," that tends to make it even hotter. I wish I had negotiated the heat level for my drunken noodle, which I heard another customer do after we had ordered. The waiter didn't ask me how hot I wanted it, and I was ashamed to ask for "medium."

E.F.: Never be ashamed. Ordering at any restaurant where you're not familiar with the cuisine and asking questions can be intimidating, but do it. Our very friendly waiter did offer to help us with the menu since I was a little concerned about the spice levels. I did avoid the selections marked with an image of a red chili pepper. I did understand what that meant, but who knew "drunken," as in drunken noodle, meant "Wow, this is pretty darn hot." But you loved it as well as the massaman curry you had, which wasn't too hot at all.

L.S.: And high-heat food makes you want even more of it, as if the next bite will smother the fire from the last mouthful. My nose started running, my eyes watered and I took a perverse joy in it.

E.F.: You are cute when your face turns red. But back to the food. Even on a very warm summer afternoon, the soup hit the spot with its delicious lemongrass flavored stock, fresh mushrooms and halved grape tomatoes. It had heat, but just the right amount for me. I love Pad Thai and order it often when I go to Asian restaurants. The presentation here on a snowy white dinner plate was gorgeous, with thin slices of raw carrot and chopped peanuts garnishing the abundant noodle-and-shrimp dish. But I was a little disappointed with its rather strong vinegary taste.

L.S.: I have to defend them a little here. I tried a bite, and I thought that was probably an acid component that brightened the dish. I may have stolen the term "acid component" from the judges table at "Top Chef" so I'll sound smart, but I'm sticking to my story anyway.

E.F.: But I'm skipping over one of the best parts of the meal -- the mussel pancake ($10). Heaven.

L.S.: I know! Some smartypants at another newspaper actually beat us to this restaurant, right in our own city, but she was wrong, wrong, wrong when she said the mussel pancake was "greasy." It was anything but. And the mussels were fresh, presented in something like a frittata.

E.F.: It reminded me of a small pizza. But, yes, the pancake wasn't greasy, but beautifully crisp, full of plump mussels and served over pickled bean sprouts with a mild, delicious chili sauce. We shared that as an appetizer, but it could've easily been a meal for one person. I had hot green tea with my meal, but you ordered something I had never seen or heard of before -- Thai ice tea. It was, shall we say, unusual.

L.S.: I've been ordering this drink forever, but I couldn't bring myself to finish it when the waiter explained to you what it actually is. I don't ask probing questions about the food if I'm happy, so I'm sorry to hear that it's regular tea with heavy cream and "lots of sugar." Oops.

E.F.: As we were leaving, you told me how much you love finding these little residential neighborhood eateries on a city street. That makes you happy.